


Memory Restoration In Progress

by A_Faithful_Fanartist



Category: Video Blogging RPF, jacksepticeye
Genre: Angst, Binary Codes, Confusion, F/M, Gen, Mario Kart? Mario Kart!, Memory Loss, Mysteries, Not Septiplier, Robots, Swearing, codes, no relationships other than canon, not jelix either
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2020-03-01 04:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18793426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Faithful_Fanartist/pseuds/A_Faithful_Fanartist
Summary: When the Irish YouTuber, Jacksepticeye, misses an upload for a day, People just assume that something personal happened. No big deal, right? Personal stuff happens all the time. It is odd that he didn't say anything about it on Twitter or Tumblr, though. But when a day stretches into a week, a week into a month, and a month into three months without uploads or even a single word on any social medias, his community begins to be concerned. Somewhere in the world, a new robot opens its eyes.





	1. Initializing

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick note before the chapter, dashes like this "-" usually mean someone is talking, but not verbally. Enjoy!

\--Booting up--  
\--Ten percent complete--  
\--Fifty percent complete--  
\--Ninety-eight percent complete--  
\--......--  
\--Boot-up complete--  
\--.......--  
\--Hello, world--

The android opened its eyes, taking in the world once hidden behind eyelids. It was a fairly new android, as it felt. There was no one around, in a dark, unfamiliar environment. It didn’t know how it got there, who put it there, or what existed in its world before this moment. All it knew was that it was there now.  
The android performed a self-diagnostic scan. Everything seemed to be working properly, although its memory drive seemed to be malfunctioning. The android started to frown, then it paused. It didn’t seem to know why it frowned so automatically. It must have been a quirk of its creator.  
Its creator! Who were they? Where were they? Why did they start it, then leave? The robot had so many questions and so few answers. It might as well try and answer a few that it could. The android had to have a name, right? It didn’t know what it would be or how he would find out.  
-What is my name?- it asked itself, though it didn’t quite expect an answer.

-Your name is S34N,- came echoing back, reverberating through its head from an unidentifiable source. The android, or S34N, as the voice had said, jumped a little. 

-Hello? Is someone there?- S34N called. The voice called back as quickly as last time.

-Yes, there is. I’m your assistant, 54M-53PT1C3Y3,- 

S34N only had more questions to ask. -S34N is my name? Why is your name so long?- the robot paused momentarily, as if thinking. Then it continued, saying, -...I’m just going to call you 54M!- 

54M sighed, almost irritatedly, but not quite. -I suppose. Now onto more pressing matters. Can you move?- 

S34N blinked. It hadn’t tried yet, besides the few facial expressions that almost automatically happened. It started with its hands and arms, lifting them up, turning them, and flexing the digits on each. Then it turned its torso, looking more extensively at its surroundings. It appeared to be in some sort of warehouse. After it had done that, it took a small step forwards.  
S34N almost smiled. He was mobile! He could walk along the boardwalk and visit his favorite places and- Wait. It stopped in its tracks. Where did that come from? Why did it describe itself as “he”? What boardwalk? It was a newly activated android, and didn’t even know if there was a boardwalk here, wherever here was. Favorite places? That was just weird. S34N was confused. It talked to 54M, saying, -I can move, but I just thought about something weird. Something I shouldn’t exactly know about.- 

54M deliberated for a moment. -That is slightly unusual, but don’t worry about it. Now your voice box,- 54M returned. 

Its voice box? How does it activate it? Does it just happen? It added those questions to its growing pile. S34N didn’t know how it would activate its voice box. It thought that it must be automatic, so it decided to just try. “H-Hello?” It managed.  
It took in a few things about its voice. It was definitely male, and slightly gravely. There was a distinct Irish accent. Overall, a rather pleasing tone and sound to it. It decided to experiment with its voice a little more.  
“Is anyone there? Top of the mornin’ to you!” It wasn’t sure where that came from, but it decided roll with it. S34N just yelled loudly, then grinned stupidly. “I know what all of you will say! Oh, he’s too loud! He talks too much! I’ve heard it all before!” It yelled into the nothingness.  
What was with this attitude? Nobody had ever said that to it. And again with the word “He”. S34N decided to ask 54M. -54M? Why do I keep using male pronouns for myself? And I keep saying and thinking things that I shouldn’t know about,- S34N said to 54M. 

-I’m aware. I heard you, after all. I don’t know why you do,- 54M replied. 

-You... heard me? But you couldn’t see me move?- S34N asked, a little surprised. It didn’t think that 54M could actually do much else besides talk and guide it. 

-I see you've already adopted the accent,- 54M said, though it didn’t seem surprised. 

-Yup!- it said, popping the P. -I like it! And you didn’t answer my question. How did you hear me?- 

-It would be easier to just show you. There should be a box to your right, open it,- 54M simply said. 

Sure enough, there was a small box to S34N’s right. It was a bit bigger than its hand, a silvery gray color with a sliding top and a button holding it closed.  
S34N pressed the button, and it smoothly slid open, revealing a tiny green robot, smaller than his hand.  
It resembled an eyeball in a way. It had a black pupil and a blue iris, screwed into place with silver bolts. Where a normal eye was white, it was lime green. Its stalk was a darker shade of green, segmented for better movement. An antenna was on top of its ‘head’. It looked up at S34N, and S34N wondered why it was there, and why 54M had said to look for it. Then S34N realized that this green, septic-looking eye must be 54M. 

-54M? Is that you? Why’re you an eyeball?- S34N asked. 

-Full of questions, aren’t you? Considering the circumstances, I understand. Yes, this is me. I’m not entirely certain why, but I am indeed an eyeball,- 54M said back, with as much physical expression as it could, which, unsurprisingly, wasn’t a lot. 

-I dunno,- said S34N, frowning once more, -you look kinda familiar.- 

That’s the exact moment the real chaos began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter one, in which I’m finding my footing in the world of fanfiction. Aka- the calm before the storm. ;>  
> This chapter's pretty short, and it's mostly a prelude before the madness. I may or may not rewrite it eventually.  
> P.S.- S34N isn’t an android like in Detroit: Become Human, S34N’s just a humanoid robot.  
> Thank you for reading! If you have any comments or critiques, remember that they're all appreciated!


	2. Rebooting and Recalling

How would one describe what S34N was going through? Dark, creepy and uncomfortable, like being locked in a box with no windows. S34N had just finished telling 54M that it looked familiar, and then it happened. S34N’s vision went black. It couldn’t move. It called out, searching for something or someone in the darkness. 

“What’s happening? Where am I?” it yelled, unable to comprehend what was happening. 

Then from the darkness, light. An image appeared in front of him, glitching and moving like an old VHS tape. It surrounded S34N, engulfing it in a vision of sorts. There, in front of it was a man. He had brown hair on the sides of his head, green hair on top, pale skin, a blue hoodie, and headphones on. Then the vision began to move and shift, slowly at first, then faster. The dude grabbed a tiny plushie off of his desk and showed it to the camera in front of him. Then the man began to talk in a familiar accent. 

“Yeah, I’ve got a little Sam! A fan made it for me, n’ he sits on my desk! you all can’t normally see him though,” the man said. 

Then he put the “Sam” down and continued to play some game on his computer. The vision then stopped suddenly, giving S34N an opportunity to explore the room. It examined the plushie, looking at it closely. It... looked like 54M, but less robotic.  
Once he was finished looking at it, he took a closer look at the man sitting in the chair. The hoodie he was wearing was faded from use, and he was wearing a hat as well. Fluffy green hair stuck out from within the hat, hanging over his face. He had a beard that followed along his jawline. His eyes were a piercing blue, but there was warmth and joy inside of them. He clearly loved what he was doing, which seemed to be a recording of some sort.  
S34N had just stepped back from the man when he was thrust out of the vision, into the darkness once more, then just as quickly, back to the warehouse and 54M. S34N gasped like it was breaking the surface of water, once covering its head. 

54M was quick to notice and promptly asked, -What was that? Why did you gasp like that? After you said that I looked familiar, you stood there, staring out into the distance for a few seconds, then you gasped,- it said.

-I’m not sure, 54M. I saw something that must have been a recordign of another time. There was this dude, and a plushie that looked like you, and he called it Sam, and...- S34N paused, struggling with words, then continued, -It was a guy recording. Our creator must’ve been a fan,- S34N finished. 

54M seemed satisfied with the answer for the most part, and said nothing more. A second passed, and the warehouse air, humid and cool, was still. Then something in the room whirred to life, casting light on a dimly glowing computer terminal screen. S34N walked over to it, unknowing to what it might contain. The terminal displayed a text box and a few button options. It read: 

-There is a new video message available. View it?-

-Yes- -No-

S34N, of course, pressed yes. No reason not to, right? A video began to play on a larger screen above the terminal. An unidentified man walked into view. He cleared his throat, then began to talk.

“Hello, S34N. If you’re hearing this, you’ve been activated and there’s nobody around other than your assistant, 54M-53PT1C3Y3. I’m your creator. My name isn’t important. You’ll likely never meet me, or even hear from me other than this. I bet you have a mountain of questions.” 

He paused, unintentionally giving S34N enough time to mumble, “You can say that again,” quietly, before he continued. 

“I can’t answer them all, but I’ll do my best. I’m sort of a scientist, but others might call me... actually, I've already said too much about it. A few others and I created you for a special purpose. They aren’t here right now, though, and I’m the head of my sector of the project,” he shook his head and said, “It doesn’t matter. Not now. I would love to tell you everything, but it would be best not to strain your already fragile memory, so we created this chip.” 

An image of a computer chip was displayed on the screen. 

“The terminal in front of you should dispense it. It will reveal the truth of what is happening slowly, in small doses so that you can handle them. Just insert it into your left palm. It’ll give you some information on where you can go while you’re...” he paused, searching for words.  
“...Recovering. It should send you information about a few friends who will likely help you. Be aware, though. Exposure to familiar topics, places, and things just might shock your memory into giving you more information than you can handle sometimes. It’ll most likely be fine though. We wished that we could assist you in recovery ourselves, personally, but it’s not currently possible. It was difficult to even get this far in the project. I expected…” he paused, looking around as if someone else might be there with him. But he was alone. “...difficulties to arise sooner than they did, but fortunately for you, me, and everyone else on the team, they didn’t. Enough talk. 54M-53PT1C3Y3 will help you along in most every way it knows possible. We'll likely meet properly in the future, but for now, goodbye, and good luck.” He said before the video glitched out and ended. 

S34N was confused. It didn’t understand a lot of that. It would likely make sense in time. The terminal spit out the chip.  
“This little thing is s’posed to help me along, then? I don’t know. I guess I’ll listen to the weird dude on the screen. Didn’t even give me his name,” it said with a sigh, shook its head, then inserted the chip into its left palm. 

It felt like a river of information was redirected into its head. Mark. Felix. Evelien. It suddenly knew who they were, where they lived, and their relationship to that guy with the hoodie and the plushie from earlier. And that was just the tip of the iceberg? Wow. Big iceberg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two-oOooO spooky mysteries! Once again, thank you for reading!


	3. Relocating Data

S34N knew that this chip probably held much more information. It not only told him about those people, it gave him a desire to call himself, well, ‘him’. He was a he, not an it. He didn’t know why it made him feel like that, it just did. And he was done with this warehouse. S34N wanted to get out, he just didn’t know how. 54M could probably help.  
“54M?” He called.

He heard a tiny clank, the sound of metal making contact with concrete, then a sound like a fan spinning. It wasn’t long before 54M came into view, but it was... flying? There was a panel on its head that had opened to reveal miniature helicopter blades, which were currently spinning rapidly. It was almost like it was a helicopter!

“You fly?” S34N yelped. “Why didn’t you say you could fly?” he said. 

-How else do you expect me to get around? Like a snake?- 54M responded, with a sort of dull humor in its voice. 

“I dunno! I just didn’t expect you to fly!” S34N cried out. 

After a moment, once he had gotten over the shock of 54M flying, he asked 54M a simple question. “There’s gotta be a way out of this warehouse place, right? Do you know where it is?” S34N asked. 

54M merely landed on the table next to S34N and shook its head. The helicopter blades retracted into an open panel, which closed afterwards 

“No? Can you help me look, then?” S34N said. 

-Of course, S34N. I am your assistant, after all.- 54M replied. 

S34N snorted under his breath, as if someone had told him a bad pun. He said “Yeah, ok. Just as long as you don’t turn into Alexa on me”. 

54M tilted its head. -Turn into... Alexa? What does that mean? Who’s Alexa?- 54M asked, sounding more than a little confused. 

S34N was about to explain, but before could, he paused. Alexa? Who was that? He didn’t know any Alexas, did he? ...No. he didn’t truly know anyone other than 54M, and certainly not anyone named Alexa.

“Not sure, honestly. Doesn’t matter.” He paused to think, then scratched the back of his neck for some reason. “Can you like, scan the place or something and find a way out?” he said.

-Actually, yes. I can. It paused for just a moment. -PERFORMING AREA SCAN...- 54M said before pausing once more, seemingly scanning the warehouse. It took exactly 18.2 seconds to complete the scan, S34N found. He counted the seconds almost automatically. -SCAN COMPLETE. There are doors over on the wall in front of you, but they’re locked. They could be opened from the outside,- it said, matter-of-factly. -There are also exits that I could fit through, though you couldn’t. Not that they’d be any help if you could fit. Too high up,- 54M stated. 

S34N frowned. That wasn’t really helpful for him. “Can you go outside and open the door for me?” He asked, hopeful. 

54M shook its head. -I’m not strong or heavy enough to open a door that’s weighted like that,- it told him. 

Maybe if he could get someone on the outside to open the main doors, he could leave. But who could he contact? Who lived nearby? It had to be one of the three he had received information about.  
“Hey, do you know where we are? Like, what city we're in right now?” S34N asked. 

54M beeped out loud, then said, -I should be able to tell, but something is blocking my sensor. I think we’re currently somewhere in the UK.- It clearly wasn’t happy about whatever was blocking it. It flicked its stalk-like tail back and forth in irritation. 

“The UK, huh? Felix lives in Brighton,” S34N muttered under his breath, looking down at the floor. Maybe Felix would be nearby and willing to help him. He looked up and said, “54M. If You go outside, could you check where we are? I might know of someone who could help us.”

54M pondered for a moment, then answered. 

-Possibly. You’d have to do the talking if they were nearby, though.- 54M responded, though its tone was a little hesitant. 

“I’D have to do the talking? But I can’t leave, that’s th—“ 

S34N stopped suddenly, as at the end of his sentence his voice had started to play somewhere else. It was coming from 54M. 

“You’re doing that? Wow, that’s pretty useful.” S34N said, hearing his voice echo through the room, but times two.

-Mhm. I can also let you hear what I can hear, almost exactly like we’re communicating now,- 54M said. 

“That’s actually super useful! Alright, You'd better go check, I'll talk to you once you're out." 

-Yes, of course,- 54M said as it prepared to take flight. It extended the helicopter blades once more and took off.

The last S34N saw of it, it was flying out of a tiny crack in the roof. Now, all he can do is wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three: Excuse me he can do WHAT NOW? It’s shorter than the previous chapters, I know. I’m sorry! It just seemed like the proper cut-off point. This is about where things should get a bit more interesting. Again, thank you for reading!


	4. Transfer Of Perspectives

54M flew high above the ground, searching for a landmark, like a signpost or even a literal landmark. Something that would help it reboot its location sensors. In the warehouse, something was definitely blocking them. It couldn’t tell what, but it was a looming oppressive force. A constant pressure weighing on it. It was half surprised that S34N didn’t feel it too, or at least didn’t say anything about it. Luckily for 54M, signposts were far from rare. It quickly calibrated its sensors. Its guess was correct; they were in the UK, Brighton to be exact. It contacted S34N, pleased with its discovery. -S34N?- it simply said. -Yeah?- -We're in Brighton.- -That's good! there's someone who can help us in Brighton. I'm transfering the data now.- -I'll inform you when I arrive,- 54M said as he received the information. He analyzed it and flew in the direction of the person who might help them's house. 

It wasn’t long before 54M arrived, and it swiftly headed to a window where it could see into the room. In the room there were two men, both sitting on a couch. They were both looking at a television. One of the men had blonde hair and a beard. He was somewhat pale, about average height, and wore black pants and a black, long-sleeved shirt. The other man had brownish-black hair, a beard, and tanner skin. He seemed shorter than the other man, but couldn't really tell, as they were sitting. He wore a pair of sweatpants with a tiny logo that looked like a letter ‘C’ on the side and a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He was also wearing sneakers and glasses.

54M called to S34N, saying, -I think I found this Felix’s house. I’m letting you hear them now,- it said as it patched the two men’s conversation over their line of communication. 

-“Hey Mark, do you wanna record? Or do you want to just hang around for a while?” The blonde man said. 

“Of course! that's why I came. but, I kind of want to talk first,” said the second man, or Mark, as the first man called him.

"Uh, ok. What do you want to talk about?" The other said. he looked apprehensive.

"...Jack."

The other man looked even more uncomfortable at the mention of Jack than he did before. Then he looked away and said, “What is there to talk about? Nobody knows what happened. He just vanished."

“I know! I know. I just...” Mark sighed deeply before continuing. “I just hope Seán’s ok. I don’t know how he could just get completely off the grid like this, Felix!” Mark responded.-

Ah. So the first man was this Felix guy then. That makes sense.

Felix ran his hand through his hair. 

-“I know, Mark. It’s hard to believe.” Felix finished with a sigh. “Let’s talk about something else. It’s not really a good conversation topic,” Felix said.-

A little black dog ran into the room. It jumped up on the couch at first, receiving some attention from the two men. Mark rubbed it between the ears, then it saw 54M and immediately started barking at it. 

-I have to cut off the transmission, something is happening,- was the last thing 54M said before S34N lost its signal.

——————————————————

“Edgar? What're you barking at?” Felix asked his little black pug. 

Edgar continued to bark at the window, and Mark swore he saw a flash of lime green outside the window. Mark frowned. 

He said, “Felix? I think there’s something outside. I just saw something move. It didn’t look like an animal.” 

"Are you sure? lots of animals out there."

"Have you ever seen one that looks like a tennis ball?"

Felix snorted. "Are you serious?"

"Look at me! I'm the most serious person you've ever met, I'm sure," Mark said.

Felix looked at Mark. “ Ok. You wanna go check it out?” He asked. 

“Ah, sure. Why the hell not?” He said goofily, starting to grin a little. 

This made Felix laugh. “We’re off to go defeat the monster in my yard! You wanna record this? Like, for a vlog?” Felix said. 

“Yeah, ok!” said Mark, running to grab his portable camera. 

Felix put on a pair of flip-flops and headed for the back door with Mark not far behind. As they approached the door, Felix thought he could hear a tiny tapping. He wasn’t sure where it came from though.

Felix turned towards Mark and asked, “Gonna record an intro before we head out there?”

“Yep!” Mark said as he turned on his camera and started recording.

——————————————————

54M had been tapping at the door for a little while, hoping to draw them outside. he hoped he wouldn't have to break a window. that definitely wouldn't make a good first impression. It heard footsteps approaching. The two men exchanged a few words, then the one named Mark began to speak. His words were muffled, but understandable. 

He said, “Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier, and today I’m here with Felix. Say hi, Felix,” Mark said. 

A quiet, “Hi, Felix,” came out from the other man. 

54M could tell that Mark probably glared at his companion before Felix laughed and Mark continued.

“I’m going to ignore that. We’re about to investigate something in his backyard. Edgar started to bark at whatever it was, I saw it move, and so we’re here now, investigating it,” Mark finished. 

“Definitely our best video idea,” Felix said, still laughing quietly. 

"it's probably just some poor animal whose home we're about to invade." Mark then opened the door and both men stepped outside. 54M darted back quickly and hid behind some rocks. Judging from their response to his movement, 

“What the hell was that?!” From Mark, 

and “I don’t know!” From Felix; 

they saw it, but likely not much more than a blur of green. 

54M reached out to S34N and spoke. -S34N. I’m in range of Mark and Felix, but I’m currently hiding. They’re looking for me. They don't know what they saw, though,- 54M said to S34N. 

-What do they think they saw?- S34N asked. 

-I have absolutely no clue, but I’m fairly certain that it’s almost time for you to do whatever you're going to,- 54M answered. 

-It's really almost time? You want me to... talk to them. Right now.- 

54M could tell that he was unsure about that. -Yes, I do. It’s not that difficult. Just be honest and it’s unlikely that they will decline your pleas. Besides, this whole thing was your idea,- 54M responded. 

-Fine. I’m not ready, but I might never be if I don’t try now,- S34N said. 

-Once I reveal myself to them, you go.- 

S34N took in a deep breath, preparing for the conversation he was about to have with the two.

——————————————————

Mark and Felix were goofing around, having fun. Mark planned to edit something in. something goofy. He didn’t actually expect to find anything but a stray tennis ball or two. maybe a mouse. that was before a tiny green... thing jumped out from behind a rock. he stumbled back, cursed, and called Felix over. 

“FELIX! Come look at this thing! I think we found our culprit,” Mark called. 

Felix walked over to where Mark was standing. “What the fuck IS that?” Felix said.

“It kind of looks like... an eye. like Jack’s logo. What did he name it again?” Mark asked. “OH! No wait, I remember! He called it Sam!” Mark immediately said, not giving Felix a chance to respond. 

Both men were debating what they should do about it when they heard a tiny click come from the thing. It was a familiar click. It almost sounded like an intercom turning on. They both turned to look at it, and then a staticky sound began to play from it. The static faded out, then a familiar voice started to reverberate from it. 

“Hello? Can you hear me? 54M, can they hear me?” the voice said. 

Another beep, though a different one than the intercom thing, could be heard from the little robot. 

“Oh, they can? That’s good. I think. Anyways, uh, are you two Mark and Felix?” The all-too-familiar voice said. 

Mark almost dropped his camera in surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter four: I doesn’t know how to write Mark and Felix. I’m sorry about any and all inaccuracies in their personalities! I wrote them the best I could. In other news- a perspective shift! OoOoOOh! Thank you for reading!


	5. Circuits and Confusion

That voice... it couldn’t be Jack, could it? It sounded so much like him, but he was missing. Right? 

“J-Jack? Jack, is that you? Where are you? Where have you been?” Mark asked.

“What? No, that’s not my name. My name is S34N,” S34N said confusedly. 

“What? What do you mean that’s not your name?” Mark replied.

“Jack isn’t my name,” S34N stated plainly.

“Is this a joke?” Felix suddenly smiled. “Are you going to end this by saying that your name is Seán?” Felix said.

“No. Why would I...? I was told that ye two might help me,” S34N said. 

Mark shifted in place, camera forgotten. He asked, “What do you need help with?” 

“Well, I’m kinda trapped. I sent 54M out to see if you could help me. Do ya think ye can?” S34N nervously explained.

“54M? You mean Sa—“ Felix began to say.

“Of course, Seán. We’ll help you, just... where exactly are you?” Mark said with flimsy false confidence.

“I’m in this warehouse place. I don’t know exactly where, but 54M will guide ye. Right?” S34N asked.

Mark noticed that the last question wasn’t aimed at them. Instead, the little robot, 54M beeped once.

“Great! Thanks, 54M. 54M will show you two the way,” S34N promised.

“Ok, I guess we HAVE to come get you out or something,” Mark sarcastically joked.

“Oh wow, I reaaally appreciate your concern. Thaanks Mark,” S34N sarcastically replied. “Well, I guess I’ll see you guys when you get here,” S34N said, his voice suddenly stiff with uncertainty.

“Yeah, we’ll, uh, see you,” Mark said. 

That seemed to be the end of the conversation. The little robot beeped again. This time, it sounded like the click of an intercom turning off. 

Mark and Felix approached the little robot. Mark glanced at Felix, then looked back at 54M. 

“So, you’re gonna show us the way to Jack?” Felix asked apprehensively.

A pause, and then it nodded. It looked almost curt. It was weird. Then again, this whole thing was weird. Jack, who had been missing for the past three months talked to them, but claimed he wasn’t Jack, as well as being stuck in a warehouse. Not at all what Mark expected to happen today. 

Mark and Felix glanced at each other and exchanged an unspoken question: do you want to pick it up, or should I? Felix shook his head. Mark rolled his eyes and gently picked 54M up. It beeped and loosely curled it’s tail around his thumb. It was actually kinda cute.

Felix and Mark walked back through the house and out the front door. Felix locked the door behind them, and they stepped out onto the sidewalk. 

Felix looked over at Mark, who was looking towards the other side of the road. Then he noticed something a little odd. 

“Mark? Did you mean to keep your camera?” Felix asked. 

“I, uh... sure. Let’s go with that,” Mark said with a tiny smile.

“Right, ok. Sure! You totally didn’t just forget you were holding it,” Felix Jokingly mocked. 

“Ssshut up, Felix,” Mark replied with a glare.

The little robot beeped to get their attention. Mark and Felix looked down at it, then it pointed with its tail. 

“Is that... do you mean that we’re supposed to go that way?” Mark asked.

It beeped and nodded. Mark looked at Felix, who just shrugged.

The two friends started walking. Whenever 54M wanted them to go a different direction, it just beeped and pointed again. It was an effective enough system. 

About three-fourths of the way there, Felix decided to break the silence. 

“Maark, my feet huurt.” He said, a fake pouty look on his face. 

“Maybe you should have worn something besides Flip-flops, then.” Mark said, looking back at Felix. 

Felix just fake-pouted more, and Mark looked away after a few seconds. 

“But, Maaaark!” Felix said, dragging out his name so that he’d bug Mark more. He couldn’t hide the tiny smile at the corners of his lips.

“Oh, shut it,” Mark said. 

Felix grinned. “Shut it? That’s all you could think of?” Felix said, playfully taunting Mark. 

“Shut up, I know what I’m doing!” Mark jokingly yelled back at the Swede. 

They both laughed. By the time they were done with that, the miniature robot had led them to the door of a warehouse. 

The men looked at each other, then Felix shrugged and jerked his head in the little robot’s direction.

“This the place?” Mark asked, looking down at the little robot. 

The little Sam nodded while looking at the door, curtly again. Still weird.   
Felix smirked a little and walked up to the door. It looked like it could only be opened from this side. Weird door, but that was probably why Jack couldn’t get out. 

Felix knocked on the door and shouted, “Hey Jack! You in here?” 

It wasn’t long before a muffled response could be heard from the other side. 

“Yeah, I’m in here! My name’s still not Jack though,” he called back. 

Felix glanced uneasily at Mark, who looked a little uncomfortable too, but gestured with full hands at the door. The tiny robot beeped a little in protest of being shaken.

“You ready to leave?” Felix called through the door. 

“More than ready!” Came through the door. 

Felix nervously clenched and unclenched his hand, then reached forwards quickly and swung the door open. “Door’s open, Jack!” Felix called into the door. 

“Great, thanks for helpin’ me!” came from the darkness, though where from exactly neither man could tell.

They both looked inside the warehouse. It was very dark, with just a few dim lights that didn’t help very much at all. How could Jack even see in there? There were a few items with a blue glow coming from them strewn around the place. The thing that most stuck out, though, was a tiny green glow, bouncing and moving. 

Mark noticed with a start that it was getting closer and closer with every bounce. 

Little by little, a familiar figure started to come into view. But his silhouette... was different. There was just something a little off about him. 

“...Jack?” Felix half whispered under his breath, opening the door a little wider so the light reached further inside. 

“I still dunno why you’re callin’ me that. It’s not my name,” the figure called. 

Mark didn’t know how he heard that. He could barely hear Felix say it himself. Jack’s feet came into view. 

He was wearing a pair of red sneakers that neither of them had ever seen before. They were probably just new. He was wearing jeans, clearly newer, like the shoes. His shirt was a V-neck, in a medium shade of grey, and on the lapel was a green septiceye, minus the iris and pupil. The stalk was separated from the main eye part, which was just a green circle without any insides. The word “S34N” was written in blue below it. Again, the shirt was new too. His skin was the same color it always was, but it didn’t look exactly... normal. It was all one uniform color, except for a few odd exceptions that were, well, ODD. His hands- the fingers had light grey lines on them, three each, about where the joints would be normally. The hands themselves were separated from his forearms by similar lines as on his fingers. The hands themselves also didn’t fit perfectly onto his arms. There was a little space near the edges of his hands where they connected to the arm. Where his elbows would be was another separation. His forearms were separated from the rest of his arms at the elbows. His actual elbows were the continuation of the forearms, pulled out into a sleek point that curved outwards a bit. Near his shirt sleeves were more of those lines. His neck had two more lines that were visible, with small grey dots above them. His face was the same as always, but his beard was a bit cleaner and more even. He had his earrings in, but his ears were separated from his head by the lines. His hair was fluffy and shiny, and it seemed like it could move and be touched. Almost as a confirmation, S34N ran his hand through it and it moved. He had his familiar haircut, with the long hair on top, the short cut on the sides, and his Gaelic Gladiator™ ponytail in the back. 

Felix noticed that the green glow from earlier looked to be coming from his temple. It was. It was emanating from a mark on his temple, which matched the green symbol on his shirt. On his right ear was a tiny device with an antenna on top, similar to the antenna 54M had on his head. 

Mark took in a long, shaky breath, and mumbled “Holy shit.” 

Felix just stood there, barely moving. S34N walked right up to them. 

“What?” He asked, apparently oblivious to what was happening. “Ye two look like ya’ve seen a ghost,” he said with a chuckle. 

This time, Mark really dropped his camera. S34N saw him drop it and quickly caught it before it could hit the ground. He offered it up to Mark with a tiny smile. Mark took it with weak fingers. 

He swallowed and said “Th-Thanks, Jack.” 

S34N’s smile remained, but there was confusion and slight annoyance in his eyes. 

Felix still hadn’t said anything, and was staring at the robot standing in front of them. Mark understood. It was... a little more than difficult to wrap his head around. This random robot had just contacted them and asked for help. A robot that just happened to look like a friend of theirs that had been M.I.A. for three months. 

——————————————————

S34N didn’t know what was happening. They both just kept staring at him like he was going to explode. At the same time, tiny snippets of information were being fed to him about the people standing in front of him. These were nothing like the blackout from earlier, though. Things like their laughs, their jokes, and information about them as people. But the main thing that he was concerned with at the moment were their shocked expressions. 

Maybe his physical appearance was unpleasant in some way. He didn’t exactly know what he looked like, if only because of a lack of mirrors. 

“Is there somethin’ on my face?” He joked with a little smile. 

That caused the blonde one—Felix— to gape at him more. Mark, the other one, leaned on the wall for support. He seemingly forgot he was holding 54M until it let out a beep of protest, and he let it go. S34N picked 54M up and put it on his shoulder. 

-54M? Do I look weird? They’re starin’ at me like I’ve got two heads,- S34N asked it. 

-I don’t know. Nothing about you would seem to elicit this type of response,- it told him. 

S34N decided to be upfront with his concern. He looked at Felix, who almost seemed to be a statue, his face cycling though emotions, then Mark, who looked back at him with eyes full of concern, confusion, and questions. 

“So, do ye mind tellin’ me why you’re looking at me like I’m an alien?” S34N asked, words humorous but a tiny bit annoyed. 

That seemed to knock Felix out of his confused daze, at least a little. Felix looked at Mark, waiting to see what he’d say, if anything at all. Then he laughed flatly, without any real humor at all. 

“I get it. I get it now,” he said, though his voice betrayed that he didn’t get it at all. “It’s all a joke! Good job, you REALLY had us fooled,” Felix said almost condescendingly.

“No. Not at all. Why would this be a joke? Calm down, Felix. Please.” S34N said weakly.

“I... No. You need to tell us what’s going on,” He forcefully said. “Please.” His voice broke on the last word.

“I don’t know. I have no idea what’s happening, to be honest.” S34N turned towards Mark. “Can ye please tell me what’s going on?” He said. 

Mark struggled with his words for a moment, then said, “Seán, you’ve been missing for three months. You left without a word to anyone. The police here searched for you, but they didn’t find anything at ALL. Suddenly you turn up, stuck in a warehouse, and you look like...” Mark paused, running his hand through his hair. “...A robot.” He finished with a sigh. “And you expect us not to freak out a bit,” he added. 

S34N frowned. He had just been activated. How could he be missing if he technically wasn’t around in the first place?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ; )  
> Chapter five- We finally see S34N in all his robotic glory! I may be posting pictures of him on my Tumblr later. And, the confusion escalates! I still don’t know how to write Mark or Felix, though. Oops. Thank you for reading!


	6. People and Persuasions

The only conclusion that S34N could come to was that he needed to find out what he looked like. If he knew what he looked like, maybe it would clear up a few mysteries. He noticed a puddle on the ground near the outer wall of the warehouse. It must have rained here recently. Well, they WERE in Brighton. Puddles like this probably weren’t uncommon.

As he stepped towards it, as well as away from the others, Mark opened his mouth in confusion. Felix furrowed his eyebrows, clearly puzzled. S34N took notice of these things and ignored them. He was standing at the edge of the puddle now, preparing himself to look into it. He took a deep breath and looked in.

It took his eyes a moment to focus on his reflection. When they did, though.... he realized that he looked like the guy from earlier. That guy with the computer and the plushie. The guy who he sounded like, and whose apparent friends were standing behind him. He looked different in a few ways, of course, but simultaneously, the same. 

They called him “Jack” and “Seán”. But he wasn’t Jack. Nor was he Seán. He was just S34N, Right...? 

He turned to the two men behind him. Mark still looked confused, but had straightened up, no longer leaning on the wall. Felix’s state of disbelief and distress was still quite visible in his eyes, though he had now closed the door. 

S34N opened his mouth. He had to say something. But what would he say? What COULD he say? 

‘Sorry, I’m not your missing friend who might be dead’? There’s no way he could say that.

He didn’t have the proper words to explain, but he still needed to try. So he did.

“I... understand now. I understand why ye both kept callin’ me ‘Jack’ and ‘Seán’. I realize that I look and sound like him,” he began. “But, I’m not him.” He raised his hand to his chest. “Or, at least, I don’t think I’m him,” he said in a tiny, slightly shaky voice. “I don’t know,” he said looking down at his shoes and releasing an uneasy breath. As uneasy as he was, he was still slowly increasing in volume. “I don’t know why I’m here, but if ye help me,” he said as he looked up at them, watching him quietly and interestedly, “I might be able te help ye find him. We’re connected in some way, and pretty much all I know about myself is that I’m important for somethin’. What it is, I dunno, but I know that it’s somethin’ important.” 

He took a step towards them, small and unsteady. His voice was really shaking now, as if he was afraid of what would happen if he failed. Failed to persuade them, failed to find his purpose, failed to remember. So much was on the line, so much was riding on him.  
He felt his internal systems click purposefully. He had to find his lookalike, he had to discover what happened to him, and maybe even save him. It just... felt so right. It was his purpose.

This wave of satisfaction that came from knowing his purpose, it gave him the power to put greater meaning into his next words. 

“I need your help. Both of ye. I want to find out jus’ what happened to Seán William McLoughlin,” he softly but surely declared to them. 

When did he ever hear the guy’s full name? Mark and Felix stared at him for a moment before Felix glanced at Mark, then let out a little uneasy laughter. S34N looked at him, puzzled. Mark shot him a glare, then elbowed him. 

Felix rubbed his arm and said, “Sorry, sorry. It’s just... you kinda sound like robo-cop.” 

Mark raised his eyebrow questioningly, to which Felix replied, “You know, from that game with the androids! Detroit... something.” 

Mark thought for a second, then snapped his fingers and pointed at Felix. 

“Detroit: Become Human!” He said triumphantly. 

“That’s it! Robo-Cop in that game. Don’t remember his name though,” Felix said. 

“Don’t ask me, I never played it. I only ever heard the name,” Mark said.

“Connor, the android sent by Cyberlife,” S34N said, quickly and automatically. 

He frowned. Again, more things came out of his mouth that he didn’t actually know about. Felix smirked a little, which seemed to be the case when he was about to make a joke. 

“What, got google in your brain now, Jack?” Felix joked. 

“No,” was S34N’s simple reply. 

“Then how do you...?” Felix asked. 

“I don’t know,” was all that S34N said. 

They all paused, waiting to see who would say what next. 54M’s voice echoed in S34N’s head. 

-If you don’t get straight to the point, you’re all going to continue to beat around the bush, rather than facing the important stuff head on,- it said impatiently as it shifted ever-so-slightly on S34N’s shoulder. 

-I know, 54M. I jus’ can’t force them te talk, ye know? I’ve said my part,- he told 54M. 

S34N was deep in thought, barely paying attention to what was happening in the world around him. Mark was trying to get his attention, but he wouldn’t know. He was still thinking about what to do next when Mark snapped his fingers in front of S34N’s eyes. He looked up at Mark. 

“Oh, uh, sorry. What is it?” He asked expectantly. 

“Jack, we... we’ll help you,” Mark said seriously. “I mean, I’d help you even if you didn’t say that you wanted to find Seán. But we’ll help you,” Mark told the robot standing in front of him. 

“Yeah, it wouldn’t feel right to leave Jack’s robotic lookalike on the streets, no matter how confusing and weird this all is,” Felix chimed in. 

“I- oh, thank you. I’ll help ye in any way I can,” S34N said to them. 

“I’m done with this weird-ass warehouse place. Let’s go back to my place,” Felix said. They started walking, 54M once again guiding them in the right direction. 

They talked about many different things, oblivious to what was still happening behind them. 

If they had been listening, maybe they would have heard a quiet, unsteady giggle coming from behind them. 

They might have heard something or someone say, “S͞o, li̵tt̸l͟e͢ Jac҉k̴i̸e ͝f̀o͘ùn̡d ͟hi͞s̷ ̛fr̡iends̛. W͡h͘a͠t’̵s he go̢i̶ng by̕ ͜n͡ow, S ̨Three ͝w̴h̸at͢e͡v̴er̵?̸ ͟It dòes͡n̵’́t͜ m̸at͏t͞e͜r. I̶ thin̢k҉ ͡it̴’s ͘abo̕ut ͟ti͏me t̵o͢ ̶h҉av̕e͞ s͞ome ̶F̢UN̢!”

But they didn’t listen. And that’s too bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6: it’s about to get wei̸̬͠ ̷̝̑rd. Once a̶̞͠gḁ̵͆ì̸̳n̷̨̍, t̵̘̃hä̵̡́n̷̕͜k you for rea̷͖͝di̸͕͐n̶̠̂g!


	7. New Places and Nicknames

S34N, Mark, and Felix were heading back to Felix’s house. They were walking and talking, just small talk and little discussions. All of a sudden, though, S34N paused. Mark and Felix kept walking for a moment, but when S34N didn’t follow, they stopped too. They looked back at their robotic companion. 

S34N was standing there, mid step. He wasn’t moving, but he was clearly trying to walk. It was almost like he was being held back by something. His eyes moved, frantically shifting between the two of them in a silent plea for help. Mark and Felix rushed to his side, not knowing how to help him. 

“Jack! What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Mark said.

S34N’s eyes moved to Mark, but it didn’t seem like he could respond. Felix shook S34N by the shoulder, wondering whether that would help or not. It didn’t.

Almost a minute after S34N stopped, whatever holding him back released its grip. He fell to the ground, leaning on his hands and knees. He was shuddering and breathing heavily. Mark kneeled next to him and Felix sat on the sidewalk beside him.

“Jack, what the fuck was that?” Mark asked, concerned.

Felix put his hand on S34N’s back to help him calm his panicked breathing. S34N looked up at them weakly, still panting. He didn’t answer for a while, but once he had calmed down a little, he shifted into a sitting position with his legs crossed. Once S34N was sitting, he looked at his right hand. He closed it and looked up at his friends, who had both since stood up, but were still looking at him. 

The few passing faces on the street didn’t approach them, although they got more than a few questioning glares. S34N opened his mouth, only to pause for a moment before speaking. 

“I... felt somethin’. Like a static shock. I don’t know what it was, but... it wasn’t good, whatever it was...” S34N said slowly. 

“Could it have been a glitch? Like, a bug or a virus?” Mark asked. 

Felix looked at Mark, then back at S34N. “Would you be able to tell if it was?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think I’d be able to tell, so no, I don’t think so, Mark. I ran a system check, and nothin’ in it would cause anything like that,” S34N said with a frown.

“Then what was it?” Felix asked.

S34N shook his head, sighed, then said, “Hell if I know. Also, I thought we decided that my name wasn’t Seán already.”

“Well, what do you want us to call you?” Mark asked, sounding a little annoyed. 

“I dunno. My name? S34N?” S34N said sarcastically.

Felix smirked and said “I’m gonna keep calling you Jack.”

S34N rolled his eyes. “Let me guess, ye wanna annoy me.”

Felix’s smirk grew wider. “You’d be right, ya Irish potato.”

S34N’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly, and he raised his eyebrows. He seemed genuinely confused by this other new nickname.

“Anyways, uh, S,” Mark started, pausing after S34N’s confused look turned from Felix to him.

“Did ye just call me S?” S34N said, cutting him off.

“Yeah, I did. S34N is too long,” Mark said with a smile bordering on apologetic.

“Ye kinda sound like me,” S34N muttered.

“What? Why?” Mark asked.

“That’s pretty much what I said when 54M told me its name,” S34N explained. 54M, still on S34N’s shoulder, beeped in affirmation.

“What’s its real name then, Jack?” Felix asked, lips perking up at the corners when he said the word Jack.

S34N glared at Felix. “Help me up and I’ll tell ye,” he said.

Felix stood up and took S34N’s hand, then pulled him up as well. S34N swayed a little when he was up on his feet, but stayed standing. 

“Thanks, Fe.” 

“I- uh... Fe? What did I do to deserve such a nickname?” Felix said.

“You know what you did.” S34N playfully glared at Felix. Then he blinked, as if remembering something. “Oh right, you want to know what its name is. Its full name is 54M-53PT1C3Y3.” S34N said.

Felix blinked, clearly not expecting something so long. 

“Wow, who named you both? They must have some sort of boner for unnecessarily long names,” Mark said jokingly.

S34N grinned and said, “Yeah, probably.” 

He felt a little tug on his mind, and a tiny voice said, -Technically, your name is S34N-53PT1C3Y3, S34N. Your full name is longer than mine,- 54M informed S34N. 

S34N made a face. He wondered why the last part was necessary. Maybe it was their serial number? Whatever it was, it was unnecessary. 

-Why didn’t ye call me that then?- S34N asked 54M. 

-Maybe I knew that you’d shorten it anyways,- 54M said sarcastically. -Or, maybe our creator just called you S34N and it rubbed off on me. He contacted me once I was activated and told me what I was supposed to do.- 

S34N‘s eyes widened. The mysterious scientist who had created them had contacted 54M directly, but not him? He supposed that a video message was better than nothing, and tried to push it out of his mind, but a tiny part of him held onto it. Ignoring it, S34N looked at Felix.

“We better get back te your house, Fe,” he said.

“You’re still calling me that?” Felix asked, tilting his head a little to the side.

“Yep!” S34N chirped, walking where 54M was pointing. 

Mark followed behind S34N, and glanced back at Felix while walking. Felix rolled his eyes, then followed S34N too. 54M informed him that the walk back to Felix’s house was short, so S34N decided to take in the scenery on the way. 

There were small puddles on the roads and sidewalks, from a recent rain. They held reflections of the light blues of the sky as well as the buildings they passed. The buildings themselves were a mixture of residential buildings and businesses, which ranged from stores to restaurants to offices.

There were plenty of people passing by them, of all types and ages. Not many of those people looked their way, and S34N was noticed a lot less than he had expected. He doubted that androids were common, if they existed other than him, so they most likely didn’t look very closely. The most that happened was that someone saw him and asked for a photo. “That’s an awesome cosplay, bro!” Is what their reasoning was. 

S34N let them, seeing no harm in a photo. Mark, Felix, and S34N talked about this and that on the way, seemingly glad to dodge the awkward conversations lying in wait.

They arrived at Felix’s house as the sun was setting, painting the sky with oranges, yellows, and reds. Felix unlocked and opened the door. The trio, plus one, stepped inside.

“Welcome to my humble abode, Jack,” Felix said cheekily. 

“Gee, thaanks, Fe,” S34N said sarcastically as he walked in.

“Oh, you too, I guess, Mark,” Felix said, almost as an afterthought. 

Mark just looked at Felix and flipped him off as he was walking past. Felix grinned a little, walked inside, and closed the door behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter seven: return of the banter. There’s an image of S34N on my tumblr, A-Faithful-Fanartist. Check it out if you want! Thank you for reading!


	8. Researching Possibilities

S34N looked around at Felix’s house. It was a pretty nice place. It was brightly lit from what natural light was left, and felt welcoming and cozy. It just seemed like a pleasant place to be in.

“Jack!” Felix called from behind him.

Jack turned to look at him. “What, Felix?”

“Do you mind sleeping in the same room as Mark? Like, on the floor?”

S34N thought about it for a second. “I don’t think that I need te sleep at all, Felix. I don’t mind stayin’ in the same room as Mark though.”

“Does that mean you have batteries then?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, I guess I do,” S34N said.

“You GUESS? S, you have no idea how you work, do you?” Mark asked.

S34N pointedly stared at the floor with an uneasy look on his face. Both Felix and Mark waited for the android to answer.

“...No...” S34N reluctantly responded. 

That made Felix and Mark burst out laughing, and before long their laughter had spread to S34N too. S34N thought that he might have heard 54M’s tiny giggle in his head for a moment. The laughter lasted for a while, before each of them trailed off at their own time. 

“Jaysus,” S34N said, still laughing a little, “it’s been a really long day.” 

Mark hummed in agreement.

“Jack, while we’re talking about things you don’t know about yourself...”

“What, Felix?” S34N said 

“Why can you breathe? Do you actually need to?” Felix asked.

S34N blinked. That was a more serious question than he expected. He started to say something, but his voice caught before he could. He didn’t know. Why didn’t he know even the most basic things about how he worked? That seemed like something that he should know. He didn’t have a real answer, so he just looked back at the floor and shook his head.

Mark turned his camera off, then put it down on a nearby table. “Hey Felix, I’m hungry. What are we eating?” Mark suddenly asked.

Felix looked at Mark. “I dunno. I guess we could just go out, but...” he said, then looked at S34N. 

“No, I don’t need to eat either, Fe. You two can just go on ahead. I want to look something up. Do ye have a computer I could use?” S34N said. 

“Oh, uh- Yeah. Yeah, it’s in there.” Felix gestured to a room to their right. 

“Thanks, dude. Have fun, guys!” S34N said. 

Felix and Mark started to exit the house. Felix put his hand on the doorknob and Mark turned back towards the android.

“We better come back to an intact house, you hear me?” Mark said playfully. 

“Yeah, well, I’ll try not te burn it down, Mark,” S34N said dryly. 

Mark rolled his eyes and turned back towards the door. Felix opened the door and waved at S34N as he walked outside. Mark followed him and closed the door. 

Silence crashed down around S34N, practically crushing him. He walked towards the room Felix had pointed towards, and opened the door. Inside was a smallish room. There was a desk and a chair, along with a computer and what seemed to be a recording setup. 

S34N went up to the desk. He took 54M into his hand and gently placed the tiny robot on the desk. It curled up there, watching him but remaining quiet. 

S34N smiled at it, then he sat on the red and black chair in front of the desk and turned the computer on. He opened up a web browser and typed the name Seán McLoughlin into the search bar. The top results were a Wikipedia page and a YouTube channel, along with various other social medias and pages.

He started with the Wikipedia page. He read it carefully, learning interesting information. Seán was born in Ireland, which one could assume from his accent. He currently lived in Brighton, was 29 years old, and had a YouTube channel with 22 million subscribers under the name Jacksepticeye. S34N wondered what the story behind the name was. He searched for it on the Wikipedia page, but there wasn’t a real answer, so he moved on.

Next, he checked the channel. The channel logo was a green Sam, and the pinned video was an announcement for a clothing brand he helped create. Cloak, he called it in the video. 

The most recent video was an episode of a fangame someone had made for him, dated three months ago. S34N watched the video, looking for any possible information about his disappearance. He didn’t mention anything about a hiatus in the video, not that S34N expected him to voluntarily disappear without a word. It couldn’t hurt to check, though.

He went back to google, and the next thing that he saw was a news article. The page was titled:  
Seán McLoughlin, also known as Jacksepticeye goes missing, Police find no clues as to where he went.  
The title was pretty much the most important part of the article. It listed contact information and basic info about his appearance, last known location, and things like that. 

“Well, it’s a start, I guess.” He glanced at the locations one last time, committing them to memory. There wasn’t anything else that was useful on the page, so he left.

S34N scrolled a little further and found a page created by fans as a memorial, even though it’s possible that he could be found. It was still really sweet, though. S34N read stories that Seán’s community posted about how he had helped them. S34N found himself smiling at the amazing messages from fans across the world. S34N’s fans- no, wait, not his fans. Why did he say that? What he meant was, Seán’s fans were amazing. S34N doubted that anyone else besides his friends and creator knew his name, let alone any fans. Although, on second thought, this whole thing did seem to make a decent book plot. 

S34N found himself drawn back to the YouTube channel. He had soon immersed himself in Seán’s videos. He decided to start with the most popular, a song. He started tapping his foot to it pretty soon after it had started. It was really catchy. After that video, he started watching one of his series, specifically Detroit: Become Human. S34N remembered that Felix had mentioned it. After a few episodes he realized that the reference he’d unintentionally made was a common phrase in the series. That was interesting, but confusing too. How did he know it? 

Before long, Mark and Felix were home. S34N heard them enter the house, but he didn’t go and greet them. Someone knocked on the door of the room. 

“Yeah?” S34N called.

“You better not have messed with my setup, you Irish potato!” came through the door. 

“If I didn’t fuckin’ burn your house down, I probably didn’t kill your setup either, ye Swedish meatball!” S34N yelled back. 

“WHAT? There’s no way I could be sure of that, Jack!” Felix shouted. 

“Get to the point already!” It was probably Mark who said that. His voice sounded more distant than Felix’s.

“Fine, MOM,” Felix said. “Jack, if you didn’t break my computer, we’re gonna play Mario Kart,” Felix said. 

“Ye really want me to? Aren’t ye afraid of losin’ te the Mario Kart master?” S34N said, smugly. He didn’t know what Mario Kart was, but it was fun to taunt Felix. Plus, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to learn.

Felix opened the door. “You’re only saying that because you know you’re gonna lose,” Felix taunted. 

“We’ll jus’ have te see, won’t we?”

Felix snorted, then walked back towards where Mark was setting the Nintendo Switch up. S34N turned to 54M.

-Ye want me te carry ye, 54M?- He asked it. 

-I’ll be fine, S34N. You know that I can get around fine on my own,-

S34N nodded, then got up from the chair and went over to Mark and Felix. They were already sitting on the couch with controllers. Mark tossed a controller at S34N and he caught it clumsily, fumbling with it for a moment before managing to curl his fingers around it. He sat down on the couch and Mark started up the game, entering into the main menu. He selected multiplayer mode, but paused at the next screen. 

“What CC do you guys want to do?” He asked the other two. 

“Well...” Felix had said when S34N cut him off.

“200! Let’s do 200CC!” He shouted enthusiastically. He assumed that it was a faster mode.

Felix looked at S34N. “Are you sure you don’t want to do 50CC? You might actually have a chance with that,” Felix taunted him.

S34N threw a glare at Felix. “I know what I said, Kjellberg.”

Mark just rolled his eyes and selected 200CC. Mark chose Bowser, Felix chose Mario, and S34N chose Yoshi. They all mostly had strong opinions about what cup that they should do, so Mark chose a cup at random, and so it began. 

200CC was pure chaos, and the CPUs didn’t make it any easier. They juggled places, jumping from first to fourth, then fourth to sixth, then back to first. None of them dropped too far down in the beginning. Mark, Felix, and S34N were all trash talking each other. So, basically, same as always. For three races, they all miraculously stayed at the top, but the last race was a different matter.

“No! Fuck you, Mark!” Felix yelled as a red shell knocked him off the edge. 

Mark just laughed evilly and continued staring at the TV. S34N knew that Mark was coming for him next, and kept a green shell that he had grabbed behind him. Unfortunately for S34N, Mark managed to get a double item cube with multiple green shells inside. S34N knew that he’d be sweating if he could. Mark was really good at aiming those, somehow.

“You can’t hide behind that shell for long, S!” Mark said sinisterly. 

“I’m still gonna beat ye, Mark!” S34N yelled. 

They were on the final lap of the newer Rainbow Road, and the finish line was visible. Felix was far behind, in eighth place after Mark had knocked him off— he wasn’t going to recover from it. S34N was somehow in first, despite the fact that he’d never played before. Mark was still gaining on the android’s cart, laughing almost threateningly. He lifted his finger, ready to send S34N flying, when a familiar sound began to play from behind. A blue shell. 

S34N slowed down, letting Mark overtake him. Mark tried to stop it somehow, but failed and was sent off the edge.

“No! No! Holy shit, no!” Mark screamed.

Felix and S34N both laughed, and S34N went back to being in first. Immediately afterwards, right before he was about to win, a CPU knocked his kart off the side of the road. 

S34N stared quietly at the screen. The room was almost completely quiet as if waiting for him to say something. He let out a groan of disappointment and leaned back on the couch. “I was so close,” he mumbled sadly.

Mark wheezed with laughter.

Felix shouted, “OHH, who’s the Mario Kart master now?” while laughing.

In the end, for that race, Felix came in sixth, Mark in eighth, and S34N came in a whopping last place. He seemed to be muttering something like, “this bullshit game is rigged,” under his breath. Overall, they still were up high on the chart, but not too high. 

S34N looked out the window. It was almost completely dark outside now, and Mark looked at his watch. He stretched his arms before saying, “It’s getting late. I think I’ll head to bed.” He got up from the couch.

Felix frowned. “No it’s not,” he said.

“I don’t care. I’m tired and jet lagged,” Mark said as he yawned and walked towards his room. 

“Well, goodnight, Mark!” S34N yelled after him.

Mark raised his hand in acknowledgment and muttered something like a goodnight. He went into his room.

S34N looked at Felix and asked him, “What are ye going to do now?”

Felix shrugged. What a nice, definitive answer. S34N sighed and leaned back on the couch. There was nothing else to do but sit here as Felix turned the T.V. on. He might as well try to relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter eight: S34N Kart. I kinda just wanted an excuse for S34N to watch D:BH with the mention of it in the last chapter, to be honest. Also, sorry for such a late update. Thanks again for reading!


	9. What a Day

Mark closed the door behind him as he yawned. He plopped himself down on the bed and ran his hand through his hair. 

He couldn’t find the will to prepare for sleep, so all he could do was think about what happened today. He wasn’t all that tired anyways, so he decided to start from the top. 

He had come to Brighton for vacation, mostly. When Felix had heard that he was coming, he had offered to let Mark stay at his place. He had accepted Felix’s offer, and suggested that they might as well do some collabs while he was there. 

He had been in Brighton for two days already when... today happened. Mark tiredly rubbed his face, beard scratching against his hand. What was today, even? It must have been a dream. It didn’t feel like a dream, but what else could it be? 

Mark pinched his arm, hard, just to be sure. It hurt more than he meant it to, and he stifled a yelp. Not only did it hurt, it meant that this whole thing was real. Was that a good thing, or a bad thing? Only time would tell.

Something moved in the corner of Mark’s room, and he flinched. He stood up unsteadily to investigate. On the desk sat Jack’s— wait no, S34N’s — Sam companion. How did it get in here? Felix told S34N he could stay in here, maybe he put it there. 

“Why are you in here, little guy?” He asked it gently. 

All it did was beep once. Strange. Mark wondered whether it could speak at all. He remembered that S had spoken through it before, but the little robot itself had yet to utter a single word.

“Can you speak?”

It shook its head. It seemed a little downcast about it, somehow. Mark believed that he understood a little. Not being able to talk or express yourself at all would be awful.

He reached towards it, pausing when it shifted in place, then patted it on the head, trying to comfort it to the best of his ability. Its metal surface was smooth and cold, separated by plates that would probably open and move if given the opportunity. It looked up, silently observing him. Then it beeped once more, apparently satisfied. 

Mark wondered whether or not it could feel his touch. If it couldn’t, it was the thought that counted. That thought sent a chill down Mark’s spine. If Sam couldn’t feel the contact, could S34N? It would be so weird not being able to feel things that he touched. He supposed that if S34N really wasn’t Jack, it wouldn’t make a difference for him. He wouldn’t miss something that he never had. 

On that note, Mark realized that S was just plain weird. He knew and referenced things he, from his reactions to them afterwards, didn’t know anything about. He didn’t exactly know how he worked. He just appeared out of nowhere, and Mark wondered how long he had been stuck in that warehouse. Mark wondered about a lot of things about him. Too many things, Mark thought as he grinned, to write on a single chapter of this Fic. 

Mark blinked. Where did that come from? He didn’t know, but silently cursed the Author all the same.

There was seemingly no way to swiftly get the answers to any of his questions. That is, until Mark glanced at the little robot. It would probably know some things. But how would he communicate with it? He didn’t know. Regardless, Mark decided to try and talk to the tiny green robot on the desk.

“Hey, uh, Sam? Is there any way for you to tell me how long was S trapped in that warehouse?” Mark tried. 

One beep came out of the little Sam. Mark thought about it for a second, then realized that might have meant a number. One beep, one day, maybe. It was worth a try.

“Was he trapped in there for a day?” Mark asked.

It nodded, and Mark smiled a little. He had gotten an answer from it, even though it didn’t speak! He thought that was pretty cool. If it could communicate through those beeps, there must be a way that it could speak in some way. But how? If all it could do was beep and gesture, surely he could find a language made from beeps. Morse code was made of beeps, maybe he could teach it Morse code!

“Hey Sam. I might have just had an idea about how you could talk!” Mark excitedly told it. 

It tilted its head, seemingly curious about what he had to say. 

“Would you be up for learning Morse code?”

It nodded, meaning that it indeed did want to learn. It wouldn’t be too hard to teach it. He began to search the Internet on his phone for the language, or something else he could use to teach it.

As he was searching, a few thoughts ran through his mind, painting it with possibilities and questions. One of the most prominent thoughts was one he didn’t know the answer to. Why does he even want to teach it at all? He didn’t really know. Maybe he wanted answers out of it about S34N. It was clear that it knew more than it could currently say. Maybe he just pitied it. Or, probably, a mix of it all.

He finished searching for a chart or some sort of list of the Morse code alphabet. He scratched his beard, then showed the little robot the picture he had found.

“This is the Morse code alphabet,” he explained. “The dots mean one short beep, and the dashes mean one longer beep. In between letters, there’s a longer pause than between the beeps within letters.”

It examined the chart, then looked at Mark again. 

“Do you want to try? Say something, something short. I’ll...” He paused to yawn, lifting his hand to his mouth, then continued. “I’ll try to translate it.”

It looked back down at the chart Mark was holding, then nodded. 

“-- .- .-. -.-”

It took Mark a hot second to figure out what it had said. But then, with the help of the chart, he realized that it had said... Mark. It said his name. A smile brightened his face. If that wasn’t the cutest darn thing Mark had ever heard, he didn’t know what was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 9- Mark has a soft spot for our favorite green robot! This was a fun chapter to write. Once again, thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments, they’re always appreciated!


	10. Together, Yet Alone

Felix was sitting on the couch, scrolling through the channels on the T.V. There wasn’t anything good on, though. He finally settled on some random ghost hunting show. He’d never heard the name before and couldn’t care less about it. He only really wanted the background noise anyways. Best case scenario, he’d get to laugh at these guys making fools out of themselves. 

He looked over at the android sitting next to him. Jack didn’t notice his glance, and Felix was able to see what he looked like more than he could before. 

The overhead light was gleaming down and glinting off of his... skin. It clearly wasn’t skin, it was just colored metal. What else could he call it though? 

...It didn’t matter. 

His eyes looked like his regular eyes. They didn’t look fully real, of course, but they about as close as it gets. He looked so robotic it was almost scary how human he was; How full of life he could be.   
...How much he acted like the real Jack. If he looked a lot less like a robot, and more like a regular human, Felix might not be able to tell the difference sometimes. Well, besides his lack of knowledge about a lot of topics and his constant insistence that he wasn’t Jack. 

Felix closed his eyes. He remembered how surprised he had felt when this Jack had walked out of that warehouse. He was completely frozen, all he could do was keep himself standing. Felix scrunched his eyes up tightly. He even yelled at Jack! Well, not exactly yelled. He snapped at him. No matter whether it was snapping or yelling, it still wasn’t his proudest moment.

Felix relaxed his eyelids. He realized that Mark was probably confused too. He probably just needed time to himself. Time to think over the day. Felix thought that it wasn’t a bad idea to get some private time, but that’s not what he wanted right now. Private time could wait.

He opened his eyes back up, squinting for just a moment as they adjusted to the sudden light. The ghost hunters on the T.V. were screaming over supposed ghost evidence. Well, only one of them was screaming. The other one, who was taller, was laughing at the first. In reality, a light had turned on. Felix could hear Jack chuckling at the show. That guy was pretty funny. Felix laughed a little too. The ghost hunter kept freaking out as it turned off and on again, and in turn they kept giggling, unable to quiet themselves while the ghost hunter was freaking out. Jack caught Felix’s gaze and smiled.

“That dude’s pretty crazy. And way too loud!”

Felix smiled. “That’s ironic.” He glanced at the show, then back at Jack. 

Jack snorted and rolled his eyes. “Oh gee, thanks Fe.” They looked back at the T.V. The taller of the ghost hunters was now laying on the remains of a pentagram on the floor and yelling at demons. The shorter was freaking out about it. The show was actually pretty fun. Felix might watch more later. Or not, whichever. But, if he was being honest, it was probably going to be the latter.

Felix‘s focus was diverted from the show when the laughter to the left of him suddenly stopped. He worriedly glanced over at Jack, who was still staring at the screen. His eyes, previously sharp and focused, were now dull and hazy. His mouth was opened up as if mid-laugh, but no sound was coming out. 

Felix touched his shoulder and said, “Jack? You ok?” He didn’t respond, and the brief shoulder touch quickly evolved into a shake, with Felix frantically attempting to get his attention. Alas, to no avail. 

Felix jumped up and dashed to Mark’s room. He needed to get help. Mark could help. At least, he hoped Mark could help. He frantically glanced back at Jack, making sure Jack still hadn’t moved before he bothered Mark. He hadn’t. Felix knocked on Mark’s door. He didn’t wait for a response before practically shoving the door in. 

Mark looked up from the corner of the room. “Do you mind?” He asked sarcastically. Then he noticed Felix’s jagged movements and uneven breathing. Mark’s sarcastic expression immediately softened into worry. He stood up. “What’s up?” He didn’t bother to hide the concern that laced his words.

“It’s Jack. He- we were watching T.V. and- and he... stopped. He stopped moving and laughing and- and I tried to get his attention but- but-“ 

Mark noticed that Felix was hyperventilating. Mark walked over to his Swedish friend and put his hands on Felix’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, calm down. Take a deep breath. It’ll be ok,” Mark said as he tried to calm Felix down. 

“B-but... but what if it won’t be ok? We already lost- lost him once,” Felix said, still breathing rapidly.

Mark paused. He had no idea that Felix felt that way. He had seemed so chill about it earlier. He still had to get Felix to relax a little. They could talk later. “Shh. It’ll be fine. Calm down,” Mark said again in an attempt at reassuring him. 

Felix breathed deeply for a little bit. It definitely helped, and he soon felt good enough to explain what had happened. Felix was still panicking a lot, but at least he could mostly focus on what he was doing.

Felix heard a loud beep, then had to quickly dodge a tennis-ball shaped blur that was aimed almost directly at his head. Felix looked at Mark with an anxious grimace on his face. He quickly moved back to Jack, with Mark following behind him. The tiny robot was now sitting on Jack’s knee.

It was looking up at Jack, not moving and beeping up a storm. Felix didn’t know what it was doing, but he wasn’t exactly in the mood to care. He just hoped it was helping.

Mark tried to shake Jack out of his trance, but his attempts did no better than Felix or 54M’s. Jack remained stuck in his haze.

“Jack! This is Felix! You have to wake up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 10: I’m so sorry this is what happens when I try to write soft fluffy chapters. It wasn’t meant to end like that, I swear! It took control about halfway through. Still, thank you for reading!


	11. Wake Up

Darkness.

Darkness surrounded him.

Darkness enveloped him.

He opened his eyes.

The darkness didn’t disappear.

I̡̕͘͠t remained.

He remained.

Silent.

Hidden.

Waiting.

Waiting for something, anything to happen. 

He hugged his legs to his chest. If only he could cry.

This eX̷͡͝҉̕treme darkness would crush the tears out of him.

But he C҉̴̴̀ouldn’t.

... His neck ached. Why D̢͞id his neck ache? He didn’t think it cO̸͟͞҉uld. Not here. Not now.

His ears rang. His ears hƯ̡͝rt from the noise. 

He reopened his eyes. He didn’t reM̡̧̀ember closing them. He couldn’t tell if he did in the first place or not.

A glowing red light lazily floated into view.

He B̷͟͢͞linked. Was it real?

It remained.

He remained.

But then it was gone, back to where it came F̸̨̀rom.

Though he stayeD҉͢.

And he wept, though he had no tears to give.

And the darkness didn’t caR̕͏̛e.

He knew he was nothing. Absolute Z̶̵͘͢ero. So why was he here?

He didn’t do anything that woU̸͠͏̨ld justify this.

He wanted to get out of here. Someone, P̷lease let him out of here.

B̶͠ut nobody came.

And the darkness remaI̵̡̛͝ned.

And he reM͝͏aineD̶͏̸.

IŅ͢͜ the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 01001000 01000101 00100000 01001001 01010011 00100000 01001000 01000101 01010010 01000101 00100000 01000100 01001111 01001110 00011001 01010100 00100000 01001100 01000101 01010100 00100000 01001000 01001001 01001101 00100000 01001111 01010101 01010100 00100000 01000010 01000101 01010111 01000001 01010010 01000101 00100000 01001000 01001001 01010011 00100000 01010000 01001111 01010111 01000101 01010010 00100000 01000100 01001111 01001110 00011001 01010100 00100000 01001100 01001001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01001110 00100000 01010100 01001111 00100000 01001000 01001001 01010011 00100000 01010111 01001111 01010010 01000100 01010011 00100000 01000001 00100000 01001110 00100000 01010100 00100000 01001001


	12. You Have to wake up

S34N’s eyes flew open to darkness. He looked around, only to find nothing but the silent void around him.

“Hello? Is anyone there? Where am I?” There was no response. He reached towards 54M with his mind, just as he would normally. He couldn’t find it. It wasn’t only that it didn’t respond, it just... wasn’t there at all. He blinked, expression hardening as panic was suddenly written all over his face. He tried to remain calm, and was mostly successful. At least he didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger.

He felt something touch his shoulder. He spun around, hoping to find someone but nobody was there.

“54M? Felix? Mark? Anybody?” He called out. He held his hope for an answer close to his chest, but deep down he knew. He was alone. All the while, the feeling on his shoulder remained. He tried to brush it off, but nothing he did affected it. 

“Why am I here? Where even IS here?” he yelled. He got no answer. He wasn’t exactly expecting one. 

S34N brushed his hair out of his face and sighed. As he lowered his hand he noticed a lime green light reflecting off from it. He slowly turned to find a green orb floating in the air. It was gently bobbing up and down, releasing a soft green glow. It brightly flashed once, quickly illuminating the void S34N was trapped within. The darkness seemed to go on forever.

“What’re you?” He asked it softly. 

It once again flashed brightly, before flickering and expanding. S34N recognized its new form. It was the same as the memory— well, not really a memory. The video clip from earlier.

The flickering wave of light swiftly came towards him like it did before. He flinched away in anticipation. It surrounded him, and the void morphed into a new scene. He found himself staring a younger version of his human counterpart almost square in the face. 

This younger Jack had short hair and a scraggly beard. He was wearing the same hat from the previous video clip, but the room he was in was different. Soundproofing foam only covered a little space in the room, and cabinets lined the wall to the right of the desk. The video began to play as it did before. 

The young Seán walked into the room, and sat at a more basic recording setup. He turned on all the necessary programs and made a few more minor preparations before beginning to record.

“Hey hey to all you beautiful people, Jacksepticeye here, and I have some exciting news. I was mentioned in a PewDiePie video!” He said, clearly excited. 

“PewDiePie? Oh right, that’s felix’s YouTube channel name, isn’t it?” He mumbled to himself.

The scene shifted from one day to the next couple of weeks. S34N watched the channel’s subscriber count increase, to the delight of its owner. 

He saw times that Felix and Jack had fun together, such as videos of them and a few others playing Minecraft, them trying Irish alcohol, Mark, Felix, and Jack sitting on a couch playing a game with signs, and bottle flip challenges. He saw streams, times they had fun while apart, and times they were together. 

The pressure on his shoulder lifted, and the clips of the past suddenly stopped like before. S34N still remembered all of it. He remembered everything that he saw, no matter how quickly it went by. He supposed that it was one of the advantages of being an android. But now he was back in the void with the green orb. 

“Is that it? Are ye done now?” He asked somewhat gently. 

It flashed again. Not a real answer, but S34N didn’t know what he expected. It probably can’t even talk, S34N reasoned with himself.

S34N sat down on the ‘ground’ and crossed his legs, waiting for something to happen. He had no idea how long he’d be here, stuck in this void.

After a while, he felt a tiny pressure on his thigh, but the orb didn’t show him anything this time. He wondered whether the video clips actually had anything to do with the mysterious contact. He wondered a lot of things, but he doubted that he’d ever get answers for any of them.

He closed his eyes and rubbed the spot on his leg where the weight was sitting. He wondered why he was still here, and why he was here in the first place. Most of all, he wondered what the orb was and why it did what it did. It was odd, whatever it was. If only it could speak.

S34N leaned forwards a little before being jerked back by an invisible push on his shoulders. He jerked his eyes open, and saw the orb blink and flicker as a response to his sudden movement. S34N stood back up, preparing for something to happen, if anything at all.

He was once again enveloped in the VHS tape-like image. He was once more staring at a younger Jack. This Jack was sitting at a desk, clearly nervous. He looked a lot like the young Jack S34N had just seen. He was wearing headphones and playing a game. The computer said something about Gmod, whatever that was. 

It was a video recording, but he wasn’t talking to the viewers this time, though. No, he was talking to someone else. Someone specific.

“Mark, why are you putting jets on melons and babies?” Jack asked with a chuckle.

“Because it’s important! For science!” Mark exclaimed while putting more jets on baby dolls and melons in the game. 

Mark set the jets off and they went flying, which both men laughed at.

The clips began to move faster, but one thing was constant: they all included Mark and Jack. S34N saw plenty more of that Gmod game, as well as plenty of other various games and video styles. This time, though, he saw two other people prominently. He didn’t catch their names, but they were present a lot too. He also saw what looked like different types of meet-and-greets. S34N wasn’t exactly sure what a lot of those were about, but they were there all the same. Then, the pressure was removed and the video clips ended once more. Back to the void it was for S34N. 

The orb was there once more, bobbing rapidly and flickering. It wasn’t doing that before, was it? S34N opened his mouth, but before he could say anything the orb was gone. It took the light with it, too. But the darkness remained. 

S34N closed his mouth. He had a feeling that by the time this was over, he’d hate the darkness. S34N sat back down and rested his arms on his knees. He closed his eyes and wondered why he was still here. He rubbed his face, fingers pressing against cold metal and his softer beard. 

His eyelids fluttered back open as the pushing force from earlier returned, softer than ever. His eyes blurred, and slowly a soft image replaced the darkness. It took him a while for his eyes to adjust and focus. When they finally did adjust though, he saw Felix, Mark and 54M. His eyes lazily drifted over each of them. It seemed like they were trying to say something, but he couldn’t hear them. He couldn’t hear anything yet. Their voices slowly became louder and louder, and soon he could make out what they were saying.

“Jack? Holy shit, Jack! Are you ok? What happened?” 

That was Felix’s voice, he could tell. S34N dragged his eyes over to Mark.

“Seán? Er- I mean, S? Can you hear us?” 

It took S34N a moment to remember why he called him S. He didn’t really care if he called him Seán. Did he before? He couldn’t remember. “S’ok, Mark, ye can call me Seán if y’want,” S34N slowly said, unintentionally slurring his words.

Mark blinked. “I- oh. Ok? I thought you didn’t like it?” 

“No, s’fine. Don’t worry ‘bout it,” S34N said.

“Jack, what was that? Why did you... zone out like that?”

Jack looked up at Felix. “I’ve no idea, to be honest.”

-S34N! Can you hear me?- 54M’s voice suddenly rang in S34N’s mind. He jumped. He couldn’t hear 54M before. Was it trying to contact him this whole time?

-Loud and clear, 54M. I couldn’t before, though. Do you have any idea of what just happened?- 

-Not at all. What were you experiencing while you were zoned out, as Felix said?- 54M said.

-Video clips, like the first time I stared off into nothing. This time it was definitely different, though,- S34N said.

-“Different”? What do you mean, different? I wasn’t with you either time,- 54M said.

-Oh, right. I forgot, sorry. This time around there was a lot more darkness, for one thing. I could feel something pushing on my shoulders, too.-

54M visibly deflated. -I... I have no idea what that is. How am I supposed to help you if I don’t know what it is?-

-It’s ok, 54M. It doesn’t seem bad!- S34N tried to reassure it.

-But what if it is? You don’t know!- 54M scolded.

-Mmh... You’re right, 54M. I don’t think that it can be helped, though.- 

-I know. That is why I’m so... suspicious of it.- 

S34N could tell that it was going to say something else, but let it be. He looked up at his concerned friends. Felix seemed exhausted, and Mark didn’t look like he was doing much better. 

“You guys look tired. You should really get some rest, you know,” S34N said.

“What? No, I- we need to make sure you’re ok, Jack,” Felix said.

“Don’t drag me into this! Not that I’m not concerned about you, Seán, but I’m tired,” Mark exclaimed.

S34N acknowledged Mark with a nod. “I’ll be fine, Fe.”

Felix glanced down at his feet, tracing the lines on the floor with his eyes. He wrung his hands out and looked back at S34N. “J- Seán, just... just promise me one thing?” 

“Yeah?”

“Don’t do anything crazy. please?” Felix pleaded.

“Er, not sure what you expect me to do when I’m in your house, but... sure. I promise, Felix.” 

“Yeah, what DO you expect him to do? Smash your ruby playbutton?” Mark joked.

Felix glared at Mark. His eyelids suddenly crinkled up as he yawned deeply. “Y’know what I meant, Mark. I meant in general.”

Mark patted Felix on the back. “Yeah, I know. ’Night, for real this time.” He left the room.

Felix reluctantly followed suit. He paused in the doorway and turned back towards S34N. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he only stood there before walking away.

S34N leaned back against the couch. Today was tiring, even for him. He didn’t even get tired! Or, did he? He didn’t know. Again. He caught himself drifting off, his eyelids flickering open and closed. He let his eyes close, and his mind wandered into the land of sleep.  
Or, well, at least the robotic equivalent of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 12: all aboard the ANGST train. It was a lot of fun referencing old videos! I’m going to be away for the next week or so, so I’ll probably miss the next update. Although, I should get a lot of writing done in the time I’m gone! Even so, thank you for reading!


	13. Seeking a New Direction

Sunlight. Sunlight streamed through the window, bright and warm. It illuminated all that it landed upon and reawakened the world. If you looked closely in the patches of sunlight, you could see dust particles floating through the air and bringing life to the room. 

The sun’s warmth was the first thing S34N saw as his eyes opened ever-so-slightly. He yawned and stretched out his limbs. As he tried to stand up, he noticed that during the night someone had put a blanket over him. A smile creeped across his face. He may not need the warmth, but he certainly appreciated the gesture. He removed the blanket and stood up. 

-54M?- Out of the corner of his eye, S34N saw 54M curled up on the couch. He turned towards it. It appeared to be asleep, and S34N gently poked it. Its eye slowly slid open, and it let out a quiet beep.

-54M? Were you... asleep?-

-Not exactly. It’s a sleep mode, like a screensaver.- 54M uncurled and looked up at him.

-Ah. Do we need it?- He paused. -Why did I drift off like a human?-

-We don’t exactly need it, but it does help with batteries sometimes. As for the second question, I imagine your drifting off is to make you more lifelike, but you should be able to control it.-

-Thanks, 54M. What would I do without you?- 

54M puffed up proudly. -I don’t know, but that’s why they made me.-

-Yeah. I’m gonna try to find someone else. I want to see if the leads I found yesterday go anywhere.- S34N said.

54M nodded and told him that it would help. S34N put 54M on his shoulder, and it sat there as he wandered towards the hallway. Worst come to worst, he could just leave the house alone. He should probably cover his elbows up first, though. Best not to draw suspicion, and they weren’t exactly normal.

He reached Mark’s room and saw that the room was still dark. He reached up and touched the closed door, hearing the quiet snoring inside. 

-Guess he’s still asleep, then.- S34N removed his hand from the door and kept moving. The next door he came to was the recording room. Felix’s voice was ringing through the door; it seemed like he was recording. 

S34N looked at 54M the best that he could while it was on his shoulder. -They aren’t available. Should I interrupt someone?-

-We don’t need to bother someone else. I can guide you like I did yesterday.-

-Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too. I should get a hoodie or something first though.-

-Considering that you share the appearance of a missing person, especially that of a somewhat famous person, yes, that would be optimal,- 54M said.

S34N walked back towards Mark’s room and quietly opened the door. He was going to see if he had a hoodie out somewhere before bugging Felix. If there wasn’t one out, he definitely wasn’t going to dig through Mark’s bags. If it was, he was sure Mark would understand why he borrowed it. 

Luckily, there was a hoodie strewn on the desk. It was dark grey and had a large grey C on it. 54M jumped onto the table and S34N pulled the hoodie on. It was a bit big on him, but otherwise it was fine. The size was actually perfect for hiding his elbows, for the most part. The two of them silently returned to the hall outside. 

-Here, get in the big pocket on the front,- S34N told 54M.

54M swiftly obliged and they headed towards the front door.

-Where are we headed?-

S34N thought for a moment, then remembered the article. -We’re headed to the Brighton Pier. How do we get there?-

-Give me a moment...-

S34N awkwardly kicked at pebbles as he waited. At least he only had to wait a short amount of time, exactly like before. 

-I have the directions. Let’s go.-

With that, they were off. It was a relaxing walk to the pier, and S34N enjoyed most of it. Although, after the first few odd looks he got, he hid his head with the hood. S34N noticed that there seemed to be more people out and about than there were the previous day. He hoped that it wouldn’t affect him much. He kept his face to the ground and stuffed his hands as far as he could in his pockets without bothering 54M, and kept walking. 

-S34N, we’re here.- 

He looked up. Sure enough, they had arrived. A chilly breeze blew freely through the air. It wasn’t very strong, but it made a few people around S34N shiver. The pier seemed bright and cheery, but there was an air of something grim surrounding it. The sign on the entrance proudly proclaimed “Brighton Pier”. S34N moved forward. His fists clenched, and every step he took was tense. He had no idea why. He pushed the hood back. The wind flowed through his hair. 

-54M? Is it just me, or does something about this place seem... wrong?-

-No, not really. Why?-

S34N eyed the large white lettering. -I don’t know. Something here feels off. I don’t know what.-

-Ah. What are we looking for here?-

S34N pulled the hood back up and leaned on the railing, looking into the dark water below. -I didn’t exactly plan that far,- he admitted.

He heard 54M’s muffled beep of surprise through the pocket. -You didn’t plan that far? What do you expect to find that the authorities didn’t? Especially when it’s been three months since he disappeared!-

S34N hung his head. -I... I don’t know. I figured that it couldn’t hurt to look.-

-I suppose you aren’t wrong. But still! You really should have thought this through more first. So what’ll we do now?- 

S34N put his head in his hands and sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a person in green leaning against the railing like he was. Suddenly S34N was aware of how suspicious he looked, dressed in dark clothes and hiding his head. He immediately straightened up and inadvertently got a better look at the stranger in green. He was about to look away when he noticed something odd. The stranger’s skin seemed to be glowing a shade of florescent green. Not only that, but he looked oddly familiar.

“Holy shit,” S34N murmured. It was Seán. S34N reached out to touch his arm. His hand went straight through Seán. S34N flinched and pulled back. 

-54M? Are you seeing this?-

-No. seeing what? I can’t see out of your pocket.-

S34N focused on the holographic version of Seán standing in front of him. He pulled his phone out and scrolled a little, then paused. S34N saw his mouth stiffen into a thin line. Seán started to walk away from the pier, and S34N followed closely behind.

-S34N? What are you doing?-

S34N chose not to respond, and instead kept moving. Seán kept looking at his phone as he was walking. It seemed he was following directions from someone or something on his phone. If he caught up and looked at it, would he be able to see what was on it? Maybe.

S34N could tell that 54M was still trying to contact him. He kept going. He had to keep going. Keep moving. Fulfill the purpose. Complete the task. No matter the stakes. 

S34N stumbled over the sidewalk. He realized that he had zoned out and fallen behind as a result. He picked up the pace. Seán paused in front of an alleyway. He glanced at his phone, then back up. His mouth moved soundlessly. S34N stood beside him. Seán took a step into the shadows. Seán was taking another step, but his holographic figure dissipated in a cloud of green dust.

S34N stared blankly into the dark void summoned by shadows. -54M?-

-What were you— you know what? Nevermind. I’m not even going to ask. At least, I assume you had a reason for what you just did?- 

-Yes, I did. I’m sorry for ignoring you, but it was important. Make a note of where we are, please.-

-Will do. But why?- 

S34N grinned. -I think we might have a lead.-

54M beeped in astonishment. It was understandably surprised. -What? How?-

-I don’t know. I’ll have to come back later to see. I think we should go for now though.-

-I... right. Mark and Felix must have finished what they were doing by now.-

S34N turned around. -Let’s go. Do you mind helping with directions?-

-Of course. It would be best to hurry back as to not worry our current hosts.-

-Yeah, we should,- he said.

S34N began walking at a quick pace. He hoped that his friends weren’t worried. If they were, he dreaded the conversation they were sure to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13: S34N the rebel. He should have told someone before he left! This chapter was a fun challenge, trying to give it a fitting atmosphere. Also, I’m so sorry about that super long hiatus. I didn’t expect it to be nearly that long. Also, this is important. I was trying to get chapters out weekly before, but I’m falling behind and I might not post weekly anymore. I’ll try my best, though! Thank you for reading!


	14. Awkward Conversations

Felix shut off his computer. He had just finished recording another Minecraft video. In it he had done this and that, with no real focus in mind. He pulled his headphones off and put them on the desk. He was done working for the day, which meant he had more time to... well, he didn’t know what he would do, but he would have more time for it regardless. 

He meandered out of the recording room and into the kitchen. There Mark was, seemingly still half asleep. He looked like he was fighting the coffee maker. 

“Need some help with that, Mark?” Felix said. 

Mark grunted a response and sat at a nearby stool. Felix pushed a few buttons on the machine and quickly procured a cup for Mark. 

“Here. Watch out, it’s really hot.” Mark silently accepted the dirty bean water. Felix sat beside him as he put the mug to his lips. He recoiled from the steaming mug.

“Shit, that’s hot!” Mark cursed. 

“I warned you! Give it a minute to cool down.”

“Well, burning yourself is one way to wake up, I guess.” Mark looked down at the table, tracing the lines with his eyes.

“Yeah, definitely.” Felix glanced around the room as if he suddenly noticed something. “Hey, do you know where Jack is? He’s not here.”

Mark looked back up at Felix. “I haven’t seen him. Wasn’t he still on the couch?”

“Don’t think so. I came straight in here when I was done. Wouldn’t you have seen him, though?”

Mark rubbed the back of his head. “I, uh... I kinda just went straight for the coffee,” he admitted. He took a quick sip from the mug and nodded.

Felix began to stand up. Mark glanced up at him. “Where are you going?” 

Felix pointed vaguely towards the door. “To check on Jack.”

“No you aren’t. We need to talk.” Mark gestured to Felix’s seat with his free hand.

“But...”

“Nope. He’ll be fine. He’s not helpless, you know.” Mark sipped his coffee.

Felix sat down and leaned on the countertop. “Yeah, I know. What is it?”

“I want to talk about last night.” 

Felix shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “What about last night?”

“You know, when you were freaking out. You said something about not wanting to lose him again.” 

“Oh, it was nothing. I was just panicking.”

Mark eyed Felix with concern. “It’s ok if it’s not fine, Felix.” Felix didn’t respond. He avoided Mark’s eyes. “You can talk to me.”

Felix leaned on his arms. “There’s nothing to talk about. It’s fine.”

“Ok, fine. Whatever you say.” 

The conversation came to an awkward lull. They both glanced around, avoiding each other with their eyes.

Felix looked at the table. “...Hey, you want to record today?” 

Mark gave him a grin. “Yeah, ok!”

They went back to Felix’s recording room. Who knows what they’d record, but it was about time they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 14: wow, that was a really short one. Sorry about that! Thanks for reading!


	15. A New Face

-You’d better hurry up,- 54M said.

-I know,- S34N said as he quickened his pace. He looked up at the sky, noting the sudden appearance of dark clouds. The cold wind must have brought them in. The wind chilled the street, blowing his hood down. He continued on his route, not bothering to return it to its previous position.

“Seán?” A voice called from behind.

S34N stopped short and turned around. Behind him was a semi-short girl in a black hoodie that was too big for her. She was staring at him with wide eyes.

“It is you! But didn’t you go missing?” She said.

“I, uh...” he paused. -54M, what do I do?- he asked, panicking.

-It would likely be bad if news of our existence went around. What was it that you were stopped for yesterday?- 

-Oh, uh, right! He something about a cosplay, didn’t he?-

-Say something like that. You should use a different voice, too,- it said.

“No. I’m not him. D’you like my cosplay?” He said in a gruff voice.

She blinked. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

“I’m not, uh, him. It’s a cosplay.” 

“Most people don’t walk around, all alone, completely in costume when there’s not a con for miles. Plus, it’s not very tasteful when the person you’re cosplaying as went missing.”

“When you put it like that... yeah, you’re right. I guess that’s why it’s not exactly a cosplay.” he said, dropping the accent. 

-What are you doing. This is an awful Idea. S34N!-

“Not exactly? Unless you’re one of his egos come to life, it’s either you are him or it’s a cosplay,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“I don’t know what the first thing is. So, I doubt it. But it’s not the other two things either.”

She raised her eyebrows.

S34N was just about to explain when 54M knocked his hand out of his pocket. The young girl’s eyes widened ever so slightly as she watched his hand almost forcefully come out of his pocket. Her eyes drifted over the lines on his hands as he made an effort to hide it back in his pocket. She looked up at him, but somehow, she didn’t seem very surprised. She muttered something unintelligible under her breath.

S34N stuffed his hand deep into his pocket, ignoring 54M’s protests. “What?”

“I said that even though I didn’t think you were getting any new tattoos, I like them. Even if they are odd. Nice to meet you.” She began to walk away. 

“Wait! Promise you won’t tell anyone, and I’ll explain.” 

She stopped walking. Turning back to him, she spoke. “Really?” Disbelief rang through her voice.

S34N held his hand up, palm facing her. “Yeah, I’ll explain the... new tattoos.”

She shrugged and nodded. S34N led her to a quiet side street. “You don’t seem very phased about all of this,”

“Yeah,” She simply said.

They stopped. “Ok, I have to take off my hoodie. Just a warning.”

She scowled and flushed a deep red as she looked away. “This is necessary?”

“I mean, it helps a lot. You can just see what I mean.”

He pulled the hoodie off somewhat quickly.

-Hey! What are you doing?- 

S34N didn’t respond, but was slightly more careful with the hoodie. He removed it fully and the girl’s eyebrows raised.

“Wow. The craftsmanship on you is impressive.”

S34N ran his hand through his hair. “Really? I reveal that I’m not a human, and you’re concerned about the craftsmanship?” 

“I have my priorities in order,” She said with a shrug.

“You, uh... you sure do.”

“Do you mind if I just...” She circled S34N, observing the way his arms and elbows worked. She reached for his arm, then paused. “May I...?”

S34N nodded. She gently grasped his arm and bent it, looking at the way it moved. “Are your knees the same as your elbows?”

“I guess they would be.”

“What’s this earpiece for?” She looked up at him.

“I don’t know.” He rubbed his neck self-consciously.

The young girl backed away from S34N.

“...Just keep this a secret, ok?”

“Of course!” The girl handed S34N the discarded hoodie, to the displeasure of the little robot inside, and began to leave.

“I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh, it’s Eleanor,” she said with a small grin. Then she walked away.

S34N pulled the hoodie back on and sighed. -That certainly went well.-

-Why am I even here? You don’t listen to me.- It sounded dejected.

-I do listen to you! It’s just...- he trailed off.

-it’s just what?-

-...She dropped something.-

S34N crouched down and picked up a folded index card from the ground. He stood back up and unfolded it. The hastily scrawled words on it read: “S34N. I think that we need to have a talk in private. You might be interested in what I have to tell you. I would have told you here, if not for prying ears. Come to my address, written below, on Sunday at 11:15 AM. Ask for me at the desk. -Eleanor”

S34N put it in his pocket and let 54M read it. 

-That’s odd,- it said 

-What?-

-I didn’t think that you gave her your name.-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 15: it appears she knows more than she’s letting on. Thanks for reading!


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